Until a few years ago, artist Deven Rue hadn’t worked with burnt leather.
If you’re a fan of the Forgotten Realms, you need to see this beautiful burnt leather Faerûn map. Created by artist Deven Rue, it’s immaculate down to the least detail, aged and just a little singed. Maybe its adventurer owner got a little too close to the dragon’s mouth?
Deven Rue, an Oregon artist and a self-described “slightly obsessed, overly zealous, way too enthusiastic to take on a challenge, bit of a daredevil, always adventurous, constantly creating, and disgustingly upbeat person,” didn’t work in burnt leather until a few years ago. Rue turned to pyrography as a means of making art that was both satisfying and affordable, and hasn’t looked back.
Faerûn, for those of you who’ve never set foot in the Forgotten Realms, is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, and even if you’ve never been adventuring there yourself you’ll recognize some of its locations: Waterdeep, Balder’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter, the Sword Coast … Arabian Nights and Underdark, savage frontiers and frozen wastelands, any adventure setting you can think of and more besides.
If you like what you see here, better hurry over to Rue’s Etsy page. You never know, that map might be for sale one day, though it isn’t up yet. Allegedly Rue has a webpage but it was bust in bits when I looked at it; perhaps you’ll have more luck.
